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Genomic characterisation of the new Dickeya fangzhongdai species regrouping plant pathogens and environmental isolates.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The Dickeya genus is part of the Pectobacteriaceae family that is included in the newly described enterobacterales order. It comprises a group of aggressive soft rot pathogens with wide geographic distribution and host range. Among them, the new Dickeya fangzhongdai species groups causative agents of maceration-associated diseases that impact a wide variety of crops and ornamentals. It affects mainly monocot plants, but D. fangzhongdai strains have also been isolated from pear trees and water sources. Here, we analysed which genetic novelty exists in this new species, what are the D. fangzhongdai-specific traits and what is the intra-specific diversity. RESULTS:The genomes of eight D. fangzhongdai strains isolated from diverse environments were compared to 31 genomes of strains belonging to other Dickeya species. The D. fangzhongdai core genome regroups approximately 3500 common genes, including most genes that encode virulence factors and regulators characterised in the D. dadantii 3937 model strain. Only 38 genes are present in D. fangzhongdai and absent in all other Dickeyas. One of them encodes a pectate lyase of the PL10 family of polysaccharide lyases that is found only in a few bacteria from the plant environment, soil or human gut. Other D. fangzhongdai-specific genes with a known or predicted function are involved in regulation or metabolism. The intra-species diversity analysis revealed that seven of the studied D. fangzhongdai strains were grouped into two distinct clades. Each clade possesses a pool of 100-150 genes that are shared by the clade members, but absent from the other D. fangzhongdai strains and several of these genes are clustered into genomic regions. At the strain level, diversity resides mainly in the arsenal of T5SS- and T6SS-related toxin-antitoxin systems and in secondary metabolite biogenesis pathways. CONCLUSION:This study identified the genome-specific traits of the new D. fangzhongdai species and highlighted the intra-species diversity of this species. This diversity encompasses secondary metabolites biosynthetic pathways and toxins or the repertoire of genes of extrachromosomal origin. We however didn't find any relationship between gene content and phenotypic differences or sharing of environmental habitats.

SUBMITTER: Alic S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6329079 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Genomic characterisation of the new Dickeya fangzhongdai species regrouping plant pathogens and environmental isolates.

Alič Špela Š Pédron Jacques J Dreo Tanja T Van Gijsegem Frédérique F

BMC genomics 20190111 1

<h4>Background</h4>The Dickeya genus is part of the Pectobacteriaceae family that is included in the newly described enterobacterales order. It comprises a group of aggressive soft rot pathogens with wide geographic distribution and host range. Among them, the new Dickeya fangzhongdai species groups causative agents of maceration-associated diseases that impact a wide variety of crops and ornamentals. It affects mainly monocot plants, but D. fangzhongdai strains have also been isolated from pear ...[more]

PMID: 30634913

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Project description:BackgroundDickeya sp. strain PA1 is the causal agent of bacterial soft rot in Phalaenopsis, an important indoor orchid in China. PA1 and a few other strains were grouped into a novel species, Dickeya fangzhongdai, and only the orchid-associated strains have been shown to cause soft rot symptoms.MethodsWe constructed the complete PA1 genome sequence and used comparative genomics to explore the differences in genomic features between D. fangzhongdai and other Dickeya species.ResultsPA1 has a 4,979,223-bp circular genome with 4269 predicted protein-coding genes. D. fangzhongdai was phylogenetically similar to Dickeya solani and Dickeya dadantii. The type I to type VI secretion systems (T1SS-T6SS), except for the stt-type T2SS, were identified in D. fangzhongdai. The three phylogenetically similar species varied significantly in terms of their T5SSs and T6SSs, as did the different D. fangzhongdai strains. Genomic island (GI) prediction and synteny analysis (compared to D. fangzhongdai strains) of PA1 also indicated the presence of T5SSs and T6SSs in strain-specific regions. Two typical CRISPR arrays were identified in D. fangzhongdai and in most other Dickeya species, except for D. solani. CRISPR-1 was present in all of these Dickeya species, while the presence of CRISPR-2 varied due to species differentiation. A large polyketide/nonribosomal peptide (PK/NRP) cluster, similar to the zeamine biosynthetic gene cluster in Dickeya zeae rice strains, was discovered in D. fangzhongdai and D. solani. The D. fangzhongdai and D. solani strains might recently have acquired this gene cluster by horizontal gene transfer (HGT).ConclusionsOrchid-associated strains are the typical members of D. fangzhongdai. Genomic analysis of PA1 suggested that this strain presents the genomic characteristics of this novel species. Considering the absence of the stt-type T2SS, the presence of CRISPR loci and the zeamine biosynthetic gene cluster, D. fangzhongdai is likely a transitional form between D. dadantii and D. solani. This is supported by the later acquisition of the zeamine cluster and the loss of CRISPR arrays by D. solani. Comparisons of phylogenetic positions and virulence determinants could be helpful for the effective quarantine and control of this emerging species.

Project description:Dickeya fangzhongdai, a bacterial pathogen of taro (Colocasia esculenta), onion (Allium sp.), and several species in the orchid family (Orchidaceae) causes soft rot and bleeding canker diseases. No field-deployable diagnostic tool is available for specific detection of this pathogen in different plant tissues. Therefore, we developed a field-deployable loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay using a unique genomic region, present exclusively in D. fangzhongdai. Multiple genomes of D. fangzhongdai, and other species of Dickeya, Pectobacterium and unrelated genera were used for comparative genomic analyses to identify an exclusive and conserved target sequence from the major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter gene region. This gene region had broad detection capability for D. fangzhongdai and thus was used to design primers for endpoint PCR and LAMP assays. In-silico validation showed high specificity with D. fangzhongdai genome sequences available in the NCBI GenBank genome database as well as the in-house sequenced genome. The specificity of the LAMP assay was determined with 96 strains that included all Dickeya species and Pectobacterium species as well as other closely related genera and 5 hosts; no false positives or false negatives were detected. The detection limit of the assay was determined by performing four sensitivity assays with tenfold serially diluted purified genomic DNA of D. fangzhongdai with and without the presence of crude host extract (taro, orchid, and onion). The detection limit for all sensitivity assays was 100 fg (18-20 genome copies) with no negative interference by host crude extracts. The assays were performed by five independent operators (blind test) and on three instruments (Rotor-Gene, thermocycler and dry bath); the assay results were concordant. The assay consistently detected the target pathogen from artificially inoculated and naturally infected host samples. The developed assay is highly specific for D. fangzhongdai and has applications in routine diagnostics, phytosanitary and seed certification programs, and epidemiological studies.

Project description:Dickeya fangzhongdai is a devastating bacterial pathogen infecting a wide range of crops and ornamental plants worldwide. As a newly identified bacterial species in 2016, the regulatory mechanisms that govern its virulence are still a mystery. In this study, we explored the potential roles of polyamine-mediated cell-to-cell communication in regulation of D. fangzhongdai virulence. Null mutation of speA and speC in D. fangzhongdai strain ZXC1, which encodes polyamine biosynthesis through arginine and ornithine pathways, respectively, dramatically reduced bacterial motility, decreased production of plant cell wall degradation (PCWD) enzymes, and attenuated the bacterial virulence on taro and potato. We then tested the effect of various polyamine molecules in the restoration of the mutant phenotypes and showed that putrescine was the most potent signal in the regulation of virulence traits in strain ZXC1. In addition, we found that taro extract contained active signals to rescue putrescine-deficient phenotypes. High-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry analysis validated the speA was essential for production of putrescine in D. fangzhongdai ZXC1. We further showed that the putrescine transporters PotF and PlaP are required for putrescine-mediated cell-to-cell communication and virulence against taro and potato tubers. quantitative reverse transcription-PCR analysis demonstrated that putrescine influences the pathogenicity of D. fangzhongdai ZXC1 by regulating the expression of PCWD enzymes, bacterial chemotaxis, and flagellar-related genes. The findings from this study shed a new light for elucidating the pathogenic mechanisms of D. fangzhongdai and present useful clues for developing relevant disease control strategies. IMPORTANCE Dickeya fangzhongdai is a newly identified plant bacterial pathogen with a wide host range. A clear understanding of the cell-to-cell communication systems that modulate the bacterial virulence is of key importance for elucidating its pathogenic mechanisms and for disease control. In this study, we present evidence that putrescine molecules from the pathogen and host plants play an essential role in regulating the bacterial virulence. The significance of this study is in (i) demonstrating that putrescine signaling system regulates D. fangzhongdai virulence mainly through modulating the bacterial motility and production of PCWD enzymes, (ii) outlining the signaling and regulatory mechanisms with which putrescine signaling system modulates the above virulence traits, and (iii) validating that D. fangzhongdai could use both arginine and ornithine pathways to synthesize putrescine signals. To our knowledge, this is the first report to show that putrescine signaling system plays a key role in modulating the pathogenicity of D. fangzhongdai.

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Genomic characterisation of the new Dickeya fangzhongdai species regrouping plant pathogens and environmental isolates.

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Genomic characterisation of the new Dickeya fangzhongdai species regrouping plant pathogens and environmental isolates.

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